Electric plug



W. H. ROZAR ELECTRIC PLUG Oct. 6, 1936.

Filed Oct. 19, 1954 '"Illlllllllllllllllllllll Patented Oct. 6, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to plugs for making electrical connections and has for its object the provision of a very simple and inexpensive plug which will make an effectual electrical connec- 5 tion and will be so constructed as to avoid the formation of short circuits. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and will be hereinafter fully described, the novel features being particularly defined in the appended claim.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a plug and socket separated but in their approximate relative positions.

Figure 2 is a diametrical section through the plug and socket on a slightly larger-scale.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the plug.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

The socket I may be of the usual or any preferred form having axially extending passages 2 t ere ro gh in which are terminals 3 extending from the rim contact and the center contact, respectively. The plug comprisesa body 4 which is preferably circular at the contact-carrying 25 end but at its opposite end is elliptical or oblong,

having fiat opposite sides, as shown at 5. A

central bore or passage 6 is formed in the plug body and opens through the flat sided handle end thereof, and within the body is forked, thereby providing or merging into diverging passages I, and at the contact end of the body is a circular recess 8 which communicates with said branch passages I and has the contact tines or prongs 9 securedupon its floor. It will be understood, of course, that the plug body is formed of some good insulating material so that the prongs or tines will be not only separated butwill be insulated from each other. The diverging passages I are at opposite sides of a bridge l formed in the body and integral therewith, and on the outer side or edge of this bridge at the center of the recess 8 is a head I I, the outer sur face of which is substantially flush with the rim surrounding the recess 8. The screws l2 which-v and said plates are held. to the plug bodyby screws IS in the usual manner. The intermediate portions of the tines or prongs, as clearly shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, are formed into a series of resilient bends l'l, alternate bends being disposed in opposite directions and terminating short of the free ends of said tines to form parallel entering members or lips Il. When the plug is engaged in the socket by inserting the entering lips ll of the tines or prongs in the respective openings or channels 2, the resilient bends H, by frictional engagement with the flat straight walls of the channels, will resist effort to straighten out or flatten and the terminals 3 will be held very effectually in close contact with the tines so that a good electrical connection will always be made. While the plug may be easily withdrawn when proper force is applied thereto, the contact between the tines and the terminals will be strong enough to resist accidental dislodgement of the plug. The major dimension of the handle end of the plug body is in the same plane with the tines or prongs and when it is necessary to insert the plug in the dark, as frequently happens, the operator can tell by the feel of the plug body whether the tines are in proper position to enter the channels or passages 2 so that the tines can always be easily brought into registry with the channels and the desired electrical connection quickly accomplished. The plug will fit any standard socket and may be produced at a very low cost and when in use it cannot easily slip out nor become loose. The bridge or partition between the bare ends of the wire will positively hold them separated so that, even if they should from any cause become slack, the formation of a short circuit will be avoided.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In combination with an electrical socket having tine receiving pockets formed with straight side walls, and contacts extending longitudinally in the sockets against walls thereof and formed with portions bowed away from the walls; a plug comprising a body of insulating material, a wire receiving passage being formed through the body, and resilient tines having base portions secured against an end face of the body in spaced relation to each other, said tines extending away from the body longitudinally thereof and spaced from each other diametrically of the body, the tines being formed of strips having their free end portions only flat and in spaced parallel relation toeach other to provide straight and flat terminal lips for guiding the tines into the pockets of the electrical socket, portions of the tines between the lips and the base portions being provided with alternate reversed bends to form crimps having fiat portions converging and intersecting to form abutment portions spaced from each other longitudinally of the tines and adapted to engage the bowed portions of the contacts and opposed portions of walls of the pockets when the tines are thrust into the pockets and frictionally hold the tines in the pockets and establish good electrical engagement between the tines and contacts.

WILLIAM H. ROZAR. 

